BY DAVID KRONKE >TV CRITIC

Busy day; quick hits:

NBC is continuing its online garage sale with another auction peddling props from its TV series. Now you can own a Mr. Muggles painting or Noah Bennet's actual horn-rimmed glasses (how's he going to see now?) from "Heroes" or wardrobe from "30 Rock" and "Law & Order" or gag props from "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

If NBC's not going to do a May upfront for advertisers and media watchers in dire need of alcohol, TNT and TBS are stepping up and going all big-time on us and offering their first splashy upfront on May 14. Turner cable sister truTV, formerly Court TV, will join them.

Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, twists the knife: "Everyone in the industry realizes the broadcast business has been on a steep decline for years - this year in particular. For advertisers, our networks provide an alternative that is getting better and better."

TNT plans to shift the network's Monday-through-Wednesday prime-time schedule to an all-original lineup by 2010. TBS plans to continue developing prime-time and late-night original comedy series. TruTV is slapping together reality shows about road rage and helicopter rescues.

The CW, ignoring my thoughtful advice that they should just throw in the towel, announced that it has renewed a few series for next season. "America's Next Top Model," "Gossip Girl," "One Tree Hill," "Smallville" (for its eighth (!) season - is he ever to become Superman?), "Supernatural" and "Everybody Hates Chris" will all be back. Among those not on the list: "Reaper" and "Aliens in America."

That's 6 1/2 hours of programming (counting the fact that The CW runs weekly repeats of "America's Next Top Model"). That leaves another 6 1/2 hours of programming The CW still has to come up with for its 2008-09 season. You wonder if the network has even developed 6 1/2 hours of material. Or - might they beat a retreat from their Sunday schedule, where they're getting downright hammered, and just program Monday through Friday?

Terminated

Given the myriad ways a highly anticipated show like "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" could've concluded its (admittedly truncated) first season, the producers opted for the boldest move possible: lamest cliffhanger ever.

Here's how it ended (spoiler alert for those who TiVo'd it, along with a big "Don't bother"): An evil Terminator blew up an SUV containing Cameron (Summer Glau), the good Terminator. Um … Cameron's the most sophisticated Terminator ever built, right? So the odds she'll survive are pretty good, particularly since the truck itself didn't even fly to bits, right? So someone somewhere should care ... why?

There was a fairly cool bit before that, when a bunch of FBI guys were dispatched to the great beyond (in the form of a cheesy hotel's swimming pool) while Johnny Cash sang "When the Man Comes Around." But even that was a little gratuitous, and its payoff - Agent Ellison (Richard T. Jones) was spared - was farfetched, necessary only should the series return.

But given the show's ratings (it's getting hammered by the likes of "Deal or No Deal," a show produced at a fraction of the cost), that seems unlikely. If it does return, Fox will clearly have had a crummy pilot season (given the writers strike, that's entirely possible). But, still: Given how expensive this show is to produce and the relative paucity of viewers (it averaged just under 8 million Monday night, while doing better in the 18-49 demo), this thing's probably done. And the inconclusive conclusion'll kill it when the DVD boxed set comes out.

And: The second most disappointing moment of Monday night: "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart's" interview with Hillary Clinton, the TV equivalent of a dropped cell-phone call.

Cooking the books at the Food Network

Oops: Turns out some TV networks actually do background checks, if somewhat belatedly: The Food Network is filleting its host Robert Irvine for lying on his resume:

The star of "Dinner: Impossible" has acknowledged fabricating some of the more fantastic parts of his resume, including having cooked for Britain's royal family and various U.S. presidents.

Following the revelations, the network announced it would not renew Irvine's contract, though it would air the remaining episodes of the current season, the series' fourth.

"I was wrong to exaggerate in statements related to my experiences in the White House and the royal family," Irvine said in a written statement. "I am truly sorry for misleading people and misstating the facts."

And by that, of course, he means he's sorry he got caught.

Hey, Food Network, no worries: I've got your Irvine replacement - me. After all, I invented truffles. Says so right on my resume.